A man charged with killing five young Somali American women in a 2023 car crash will stand trial this week.
The trial of Derrick Thompson, 29, began on Tuesday with jury selection; opening statements and testimony will start at a later date. Thompson faces 15 criminal counts, which include murder and vehicular homicide charges. The trial could last several weeks.
Here’s what you need to know ahead of Thompson’s trial:
How did the crash happen?
According to court documents, Thompson was driving a rented SUV on June 16, 2023, when a state trooper detected him driving 95 miles-per-hour in a 55-mile zone on Interstate 35W.
Thompson exited the highway about 10 p.m. and ran through a red light at the intersection of Lake Street and 2nd Avenue in Minneapolis, hitting a Honda Civic, court documents say. The Honda’s occupants, all friends, just had henna applied in preparation for a wedding the following day.
Authorities say Thompson fled the scene of the crash on foot, but was arrested in a nearby parking lot.
What are the charges against Thompson?
Thompson was charged in 2023 with 10 counts of criminal vehicular homicide for causing the crash and fleeing the scene.
In August 2024, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office offered Thompson a plea deal that would have dismissed five of the counts if he pleaded guilty to the other five. The office also charged Thompson with five new counts of third-degree murder.
Thompson rejected that plea deal in November.
Who was killed in the car crash?
Five young Somali American women were killed in the crash:
- Sahra Gesaade, 20
- Salma Abdikadir, 20
- Sagal Hersi, 19
- Siham Odhowa, 19
- Sabiriin Ali, 17
The women were a group of close knit friends and relatives. They were described as “pillars” of their community, “bright stars” and leaders in their academic and religious circles. Thousands attended their funeral at the Dar Al Farooq Islamic Center.
Their family members have routinely shown up for Thompson’s state and federal court appearances.
Jury selection began Tuesday.
Fifty prospective jurors filed into a courtroom at the Hennepin County Government Center in downtown Minneapolis Tuesday morning.
Thompson, wearing a dark suit with his hair tied back in a bun, greeted the prospective jurors as Hennepin County District Judge Carolina Lamas introduced him and the attorneys.
“Good morning,” Thompson said as he stood next to his attorney, Tyler Bliss.
The potential jurors then filled out questionnaires and were dismissed for the day, and will be notified if they need to return to the courthouse. Jury selection is expected to resume Wednesday at 9 a.m.
Defense expected to argue that Thompson wasn’t driving.
Thompson’s attorney intends to argue at trial that Thompson was not driving the car at the time of the crash, and that his brother, Damarco Thompson, was driving instead.
Bliss told Lamas Tuesday that the prosecution has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Derrick Thompson was driving in order to prove guilt.
Bliss said that he expects the state to have “significant difficulties” proving that his client was the driver.
Prosecutors had asked the judge Tuesday morning to prohibit Bliss from using an “alternative perpetrator” argument at trial, because Bliss had not given them adequate notice that he would point to Damarco Thompson as the driver.
Lamas rejected the prosecution’s request, and said Bliss may present his argument. Prosecutors subsequently said they might introduce more evidence they believe shows that Derrick Thompson was driving.
Appellate ruling could make proving third-degree murder more difficult.
The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled last week that prosecutors can’t introduce evidence of a 2018 crash in California involving Derrick Thompson. He was convicted in California in 2020 for a hit-and-run crash that badly injured a pedestrian.
The issue made its way to the Court of Appeals after Lamas ruled that prosecutors could not present the California evidence. That evidence has a “critical impact” on prosecutors’ ability to prove the third-degree murder charges, prosecutors wrote in an appellate court document.
Prosecutors wanted to introduce the California case to argue that the crime was similar to the Minneapolis crash and shows a pattern of behavior. The evidence would have also allowed them to argue at trial that Derrick Thompson was aware of the dangers of how he was driving, and that he “acted with a depraved mind” in the Minneapolis crash, a required element to proving third-degree murder.
Bliss argued that the two crashes were different, with the California crash stemming from police chasing Thompson with sirens on. Bliss also said the California crash happened during the day during heavy traffic. He argued that including the evidence would create “unfair prejudice” against his client, with prosecutors trying to “paint the defendant as a bad man.”
In a 19-page opinion, the Minnesota Court of Appeals said that while the two car crashes both involved reckless driving and caused serious injury, “this commonality is too general” and doesn’t show a pattern.
The appeals court decision, however, acknowledged that excluding the California evidence “significantly reduced the likelihood of a successful prosecution of Thompson for charges of third-degree depraved-mind murder.”
The appeals court ruled that Lamas did not abuse her discretion in excluding the evidence from the California crash.
Thompson was convicted in federal court in the same case.
A federal jury convicted Derrick Thompson in October 2024 on federal gun and drug charges. The federal case did not include charges for the victims’ deaths.
When law enforcement searched the SUV Thompson was driving, they found more than 2,000 fentanyl pills, 13 MDMA (ecstasy) pills, about 35 grams of cocaine and a loaded handgun with an extended magazine, according to court documents.
Derrick Thompson was convicted of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.
He is awaiting sentencing for his federal convictions.
His prior criminal convictions in Minnesota include fleeing a police officer and gun-related offenses. He also has a history of speeding, violating traffic laws and driving without a valid license.
His Minnesota driver’s license was revoked in 2018 after he was convicted of fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle. It was reinstated in March 2023, about three months before the crash that killed the five women.
Thompson’s father is a former state lawmaker.
Derrick Thompson is the son of former state DFL Representative John Thompson, who rose to prominence when his close friend, Philando Castile, was fatally shot by St. Anthony police during a 2016 traffic stop.
It was revealed at Derrick Thompson’s federal trial that his brother, Damarco Thompson, was also in the car with him the night of the 2023 crash. Thompson’s defense attorneys said at his federal trial that efforts to locate Damarco Thompson had been unsuccessful. Damarco Thompson has not been charged in the case.
